From the film LÉOLO (French-Canadian, 1992) by Jean-Claude Lauzon
MAIN POEM
Parce que moi je rêve, moi je ne le suis pas, Parce que je rêve, je rêve, Parce que je m'abandonne la nuit dans mes rêves, Avant qu'on ne me laisse le jour, Parce que je n'aime pas, Parce que j'ai eu peur d'aimer, Je ne rêve plus, je ne rêve plus. *** Because I dream, I am not, Because I dream, I dream, Because at night I abandon myself to my dreams, Before I receive the day, Because I don't love, Because I was afraid to love, I no longer dream, I no longer dream.
THE SELF-DISCOVERY SCENE
The setting: a classroom full of French-Canadian students practicing their English lessons. In unison, the children repeat: "John has one nose, John has two ears, John has two legs, John has ten fingers....". Leolo stares a this fingers and the narrator speaks:
John and Mary were our guides through English. They were models of propriety. At school, I thought I was the only one upset - the only one anxious because some details were missing on John's and Tin Tin's bodies.
The setting switches to Leolo's bathroom, where he is examining himself with a mirror between his legs
At 12, I knew what "nose" meant in English, and that the Congo was a former Belgian colony in Africa. But nobody talked about that tail that swelled between my legs. It was absent on the chart of John's organs. I didn't know the English or French word for this thing, and for a long time, I believed the Anglos didn't have any.
BIANCA
Bianca mon amour, Mon bel amour Mon seul amour, Mon italie. *** Bianca, my love, My beautiful love My only love, My Italy.
THE CAT SCENE
The setting: a large group of boys in a filthy apartment - smoking, drinking beer and sniffing glue. They are chanting "Coward, coward". A twelve year-old, in a near stupor shouts, "I wouldn't dare?! Put 5 bucks on the table and I'll do it. You guys don't have the balls". As all the boys contribute their money and with the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" in the background, the narrator starts:
Tonight, Buddy Godin will be late for home. His mom will check his fingers - she's worried her son might be smoking on the sly. No, Madame Godin, your son crappity smacks anything that moves. His dick is eaten by bugs. He swallows any pill he can just to forget you. That bath you force him to take before church on Sunday just serves him to prostitute himself with his hockey coach. White meat sells better. But no - don't worry - he doesn't smoke. It makes him choak.
the money and a cat are put on the table...the boys chant "Go, go, go"
Sex I discovered between ignorance and horror. Deep down, we all knew that money was just a pretext, and that he'd do it anyway. The betting just de-fanged the fear.
the boy looks the others in the eye
The poor cat didn't defend herself - she'd been de-clawed. Madame Oinnette took good care of her curtains. How lucky you are, Milou (Snowy), that Tin Tin didn't have Buddy Godin for a neighbour.
LEOLO's FINAL POEM
Vous la dame, Vous l'audacieuse melancolie, Qui d'un cri solitaire fendez ma chair que vous offrez à l'ennui, Vous qui hantez mes nuits quand je ne sais plus, Quel chemin prendre de ma vie, Je vous ai paye cent fois mon du. *** You my lady, Bold melancholy, Solitary cry piercing my flesh, Offering it to ennui, Haunting my nights when I no longer know, Which may my life should go, I have paid you back a hundredfold.
Léolo.
(Edited by hosenhaus at 1:12 am on Nov. 17, 2002)
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